Appearing in "Whosoever Finds the Evil Eye..!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ Prester John ⏵ (First appearance) (Appears in flashback)
Other Characters:
- ⏴ Black Panther ⏵ (See chronology)
- House of Agon
- Abominable Snowmen (Only in flashback)
- M'Wabu (First appearance)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- Africa (Main story and flashback)
- Asia (Main story and flashback)
- Cathay (Only in flashback)
- Himalayan Mountains
- Otherworld (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Avalon (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
Items:
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Panther Habit
- Titanium Baseball Bat (First appearance)
- Chair of Survival (First appearance)
- The Evil Eye (First appearance)
- Cyclo-Electronic Chamber (First appearance)
- Polarizer Gun (First appearance)
- Absorba-Bomb (First appearance)
- Triton's Water-Circulation Apparatus (First appearance)
- Negative Barrier
Vehicles:
- Gyro-Cruiser (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Whosoever Finds the Evil Eye..!"
While the FF enjoy a playful baseball game with the Black Panther and his people in Wakanda, in the Hidden Land, the Inhumans try to convince Maximus to work on a device that will break down the barrier that keeps them trapped in their land. While back in Wakanda, Johnny wishes he could see Crystal again and so with a all terrain vehicle provided by the Black Panther, he and Wyatt Wingfoot travel to find a way to get past the barrier and get into the Hidden Land.
They come across an ancient temple where they rouse the last survivor of Avalon, Prester John, keeper of a powerful weapon known as the Evil Eye. Displaying it's power, he shows that it can fire destructive beams of force as well as create, when he seals Johnny and Wyatt in a force dome.
While in the Hidden Land, Maximus builds a device for Triton that allows him to survive outside of water, which irks Gorgon because Maximus should be building a device to free them, Black Bolt then tries to breach the barrier by using his destructive vocal chords.
While back at the temple of Prester John, Johnny takes the Evil Eye in hopes that it can free Crystal and the other Inhumans, however Prester was unable to push the safety switch on the device and it is now building up energy that will cause the device to explode. Rushing out to stop Johnny before it's too late, Wyatt uses a gun to shoot the Evil Eye out of Johnny's hand and knocking it a safe distance away before it explodes in a giant nuclear explosion. Even though his life was saved, Johnny takes this most recent failure very personally.
Notes
Continuity Notes
- After seeing off the Fantastic Four here, the Black Panther returns in Fantastic Four #56 when he assists the group in defeating Klaw.
- Prester John is based upon the character of Christian folklore, and his full past origins are merely glossed over here. Later in Thor Annual #17 it is explained that prior to his going into suspended animation by sitting on the Chair of Survival, Prester was briefly banished to the year 911 AD by Kang the Conqueror, he was returned to his proper time after an encounter with Thor before sitting on the Chair of Survival.
- When Prester John mentions Avalon, Wyatt identifies it as "the mythical land mentioned in the legends of King Richard!" - likely Richard I of England, the Lionheart. Avalon is related to the myth of a different monarch, King Arthur.
- As revealed in Avengers #226 the Evil Eye was originally formed in Avalon as a weapon against the Fomore. The device wasn't destroyed as it seems in this story, it actually broke up into into six parts and scattered across the globe as revealed in Avengers #116.
- In this story Maximus constructs the device that allows Triton to breath on dry land. The invention of this device is incorrectly attributed to being invented by Mister Fantastic in X-Factor Annual #2.
- After this story Prester John wanders the desert until he is discovered by a tribe of Bedouins who worship him. This leads to his clash with the Thing and Iron Man in Marvel Two-In-One #12 a few years later.
- Johnny and Wyatt's adventures in this issue are mentioned in X-Men #24, in which Jean Grey enrolls at the same school as them.
Chronology Notes
Events occur behind the scenes in this story that affect the chronology of the following characters:
Mister Fantastic:
- ⏴ Page 1-6 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four spend some leisure time in Wakanda.
- ⏴ Page 7-20 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four leave Wakanda and head home.
Invisible Girl:
- ⏴ Page 1-6 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four spend some leisure time in Wakanda.
- ⏴ Page 7-20 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four leave Wakanda and head home.
Mister Fantastic:
- ⏴ Page 1-6 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four spend some leisure time in Wakanda.
- ⏴ Page 7-20 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four leave Wakanda and head home.
Prester John:
- Page 12, Panel 1-Page 14, Panel 1 ⏵ - Flashback.
